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ISSUE #57 - 26th October 2003 [460]
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“Jews Rule the World by Proxy” So said the Malaysian Premier of 22 years, Dr Mahathir Mohammed, when he opened the tenth session of the Islamic Summit Conference in Kuala Lumpur earlier this month. He went on to say
The Islamic world welcomed the remarks, but many leaders in the US, the EU and Australia reacted with outrage at the blatantly anti-Semitic sentiments.
Meanwhile, Dr Mohammed retorted that, “The reaction of the world shows that they [Jews] do control the world”. All this fuss about 60-odd words out of a speech of 4,000 words. Yes, the words are anti-Jew and reflect the speaker's undoubted animosity if not hatred. Yet the bulk of the speech is a thoughtful and soaring indictment of how badly Muslims have run their affairs for the past fourteen centuries, no less. The references to Judaism are in the context of how skilfully the Jews have managed their affairs by comparison, despite their history of discrimination and pogroms throughout Europe. Compared with a few million Jews, there are 1.6 billion Muslims, they control 50 of the world's 180 countries, have enough votes to make or break international organisations, sit on the world's biggest oil reserves, understand the workings of the world’s economy and finances. Jews have only the last item on this list, yet, in Dr Mohammed's view, they “rule the world”. So why are Muslims so utterly unsuccessful in getting what they want, such as economic development, technological progress, homegrown defence, control over Israeli expansionism ? He explains that Jews think, Muslims don't. He recalls that, when Europe was still stuck in the Mediaeval dark ages, Muslims once led the world in science, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, trade, wealth. Just think of the glories of Granada in Spain, which the Muslims were driven out of only in 1492. He blames the subsequent decline of Muslims squarely on Islamic theologians who re-interpreted the Islamic injunction to “acquire knowledge” to mean religion only. Not only did this cessation of thinking trigger a process of intellectual regression, but it fostered the emergence of a thousand competing variations of Islam that produced disunity and inter-necine fighting, prevalent to this day. Meanwhile, Europeans began to blossom under the Enlightenment and pulled far ahead in the Industrial Revolution. In modern times, Dr Mohammed points out that Western countries can do what they like to Muslim countries - raid them, kill the people, destroy the villages and towns, dictate how they should be governed - to which the only reaction is blind anger leading to fruitless attacks. “Is there no other way”, he asks plaintively, “than to ask our young people to blow themselves up and kill people and invite the massacre of more of our own people ?” By way of proof, he offers, “For well over half a century we have fought over Palestine. What have we achieved ? Nothing. We are worse off than before” The point of his diatribe is that Muslims should copy Jews. They should
In short, don't expect Allah to help you if you are not prepared to help yourself. If Dr Mohammed's fellow-Muslims heed his words, it will lead to an Islam that is much more rational in its behaviour, though no less demanding. An Islam, nevertheless, that non-Muslims can do sensible business with to the betterment of all humanity. I recommend reading the entire speech. The slur on Jews is in fact a compliment to them.
Pope John Paul II has just passed three milestones in short order.
Cardinals are second only to the Pope in the Roman Catholic hierarchy, and those under 80 will elect the next Pope. There are now 194 cardinals in all, of whom 135 are under 80, of whom 130 were promoted by the current Pope. These “elector cardinals”, comprise 66 Europeans, 14 North Americans, 24 Latin American, 13 Asians, 13 Africans and five from Australasia. Pope John Paul is seen as a man of extraordinary achievement, probably best remembered for the central part he played in the destruction of the vile Soviet Empire, and he has indefatigably promoted Catholicism through his countless speeches and sermons, his encyclicals (fifty of them), his foreign visits (over a hundred), his recognition of holiness (eg a record 464 canonisations). But there are many who deplore his conservative stances on issues such as contraception, abortion, homosexuality and priestly celibacy. His health is very poor. Physically he's been through a lot - been shot, had a tumour cut out, broken his hip. He is now in an advanced state of Parkinson's disease, and while those close to him affirm that his mind is as sharp as ever, his public performances give cause for doubt. In any case, the physical and mental demands of the papacy are now undoubtedly beyond him. Though no pope has resigned since Celestine V in 1294, it is now time for John Paul to. Not only because of the deterioration of his body, but because only by doing so can he assure the continuation of his conservative legacy. For if he waits till he dies, he can only hope that the 130 cardinals who owe their position to him will vote in a suitably conservative successor. But how conservative will they remain once he's gone ? For example, the most recent batch of 31 included Scotland's Keith O’Brien. A month ago he said in relation to homosexuality, “What I would ask for in the Church at every level, including the cardinals and the Pope, is to be able to have full and open discussion about these issues and where we stand”, which in Catholic terms is very liberal. But two weeks later, as a pre-condition of his cardinalship, he declared, “I accept and promise to defend the ecclesiastical teaching about the immorality of the homosexual act ... I would hope that Catholics everywhere would join with me in respecting the decisions of the Pope and demonstrate their own loyalty by not questioning them.” How reliably conservative will cardinals like this be once the Pope is not around to lean on them ? On the other hand, if the Pope resigns now, while his brain is still working, his influence on the voting process will be enormous. I don't think any cardinal will dare defy him by electing someone insufficiently conservative. Thus, if his intellectual horsepower does indeed remain as powerful as his aides maintain, he will use it to throw in the towel without further delay, in order to interfere as much as possible with the succession process.
Ireland's Director of Consumer Affairs, the intrepid Ms Carmel Foley, recently announced an investigation into claims that Dunnes and Tesco, two major store chains, have been breaking the law. She suspects they have been selling goods, such as baby food, at (gasp !) below cost. Yes, a bar on such promotions is another of the Celtic Tiger's curious protectionist laws. (Though the success of the Irish economy is a testament to the low number, relative to competitors, of such ridiculous restrictions, there are still far too many.) Ms Foley also primly disapproves of in-store promotions, believing that keener across-the-board pricing offers better overall value to shoppers. Maybe so, but that's no reason to decry in-store promotions. It is hard to understand who, other than non-price-cutting rivals and a handful of bureaucrats and politicians (a small number), can honestly object to Dunnes, Tesco or anyone, selling goods at below cost to its customers (a large number). The independent-grocers' lobby warns that aggressive discounting could spark a damaging price war between the major multiples. That, surely, is to be welcomed, as it means lower prices for shoppers. In similar vein, the small-retailers' lobby says that although “consumers win through competitive activity in the marketplace”, permitting Dunnes to drop its prices so drastically could push many smaller stores to the brink of ruin, costing hundreds of jobs. But it fails to explain why those hundreds are more important than the hundreds of thousands of people who will benefit from the lower prices. For if they can't compete, shouldn't they be doing something else ? No one seems to want to simply ask shoppers, “Do you want lower prices, taking your chances as to whether that means higher prices in the future, or - indeed - even lower prices ? Or do you prefer to trust industrialists, bureaucrats and politicians when they say paying more today is good for you ?” Surely the interests of the many consumers should always take precedence over those of the few producers and retailers. One of the things that has always puzzled me is the lack of a Consumers Party in any major Western democracy. Without exception, every political party strives to protect particular industries in some shape or form (“we must stem this loss of jobs”).
Yet no-one does. And we should remember that it is always the poorest in society who benefit most from lower prices. Why should they subsidise protected producers and retailers? In response to Ms Foley's investigation, the (subscription-only) Irish Times published a letter from me along the above lines on 21st October. A few days later, a Dr Michael Ganly replied in apparent support, but ended with the curious advice that my letter should have started with the sentence, “There is no possibility that I will not be able to drive a car at any time in the future”. No, I don't understand what he means either.
Arnold Schwarzenegger's Winning Smile By Guest-Blogger, Walter Did anyone notice the facial difference between the “old Arnie” Schwarzenegger and the “new Arnie” ?
God and DNA gave Old Arnie the muscle man a set of teeth not to be proud of - crooked, gappie, misaligned. In fact they were so higgeldy-piggledly that he usually tried to hide them by posing for the cameras with a tight-lipped grin. It
was during his Hollywood period that he first had them (partially)
fixed. But it must have been a cut-price job, for as you can see from
the second picture taken in late 2002, Old Arnie, the movie star,
continued to sport an attractive space between
I remember a wartime member of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) with such an anomaly. At the request of her parents she had her photograph taken in uniform at a nearby photographers. The photographic technician thought that the apparent space between her middle front teeth was attributable to his faulty technique. So he painted in a new tooth in the midline space. Many might have failed to notice the change, but this poor girl happened to be a Dental Surgery Assistant and she was humiliated by the chortles of her dental colleagues. I know, because I was her boss (and one of the secret chortlers).
Nothing will do but a full jaw makeover with new white porcelain crowns and bridges. And for good measure the upper back teeth have also been realigned. And this has all been done since the second half of 2002, which suggests that that is when he decided to run for Governator, not - as he pretends - just before the Jay Leno Show a few weeks ago. Moreover, if you see a photograph of him with the gap, you'll know it's older than 2003, even if the accompanying article is not ! But as with the reworking of the dentition (extractions and immediate dentures) of Margaret Thatcher in her hey-day, who but a dentist like me - or else someone alerted by a dentist - would notice ? You can make up your own mind as to whether or not our erstwhile film star has surrendered good luck with the bridging of his gap teeth. Declaration
of Interest
Here in Europe, judicial proceedings can be excruciatingly dull compared with what we see televised in America. Whether it's OJ Simpson, Judge Judy, British nanny Louise Woodward, it never fails to entertain. Whether justice is actually administered is another matter. But Judge Deborah Servitto has exceeded all previous contenders for judge-of-the-month. Earlier this month she presided over a defamation lawsuit in Michigan brought by DeAngelo Bailey who was claiming that the lyrics of an Eminem song defamed him by depicting him as a bully in a rap called “Brain Damage” ...
Deciding that the attack probably did take place in 1982, she dismissed the case. But to show how hip she is, at the end of her 13-page ruling she added a ten-verse rhyming rap of her own. Here are the punch lines ...
Quote : “I'd better stop now because I've got to go to lunch with the Pope at one o'clock.” Newly-elevated Cardinal Keith O'Brien
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ISSUE #56 - 19th October 2003 [90]
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The Cult of Islamofascist Suicide Bombing Islamofascist suicide-bombing has two grim dimensions to it.
To mention just a couple of recent examples (apart from the constant stream of attacks on Israeli civilians) ... Islamic terrorists suicide-bombed the UN in Iraq, showing that it isn't just Americans they hate.
Islamic terrorists bombed American civilians in Gaza, who were arranging US Fulbright scholarships for Palestinian students - demonstrating that it isn't just Israelis they hate.
This is what makes Islamofascist bombing and suicide-bombing so hard to deal with - there is no logic or order behind it. Thus, no negotiation in the conventional sense is possible because those whom they wish to bomb can offer nothing that the bomber wants, other than their lives. Insofar as the Islamofascists pretend to adhere to the precepts of Islam, perhaps the bombers might at some stage become amenable to negotiation by mullahs opposed to suicide-bombing, who are prepared to use the Koran to demonstrate that it is unIslamic. (For example, the Koran states in 2:195, “Act for the sake of Allah, and do not throw yourselves to destruction with your own hands.”) But such mullahs seem to be in very short supply, though occasionally a brave anti-suicidist Arab speaks out. And Mahathir Mohammed, Malaysia's visionary yet oppressive ruler of 20 years, recently asked the 10th Islamic Summit Conference, “Is there no other way than to ask our young people to blow themselves up and kill people and invite the massacre of more of our own people ?” But it remains to be seen whether his deeply sceptical fellow Muslim leaders take up his challenge. The West is, moreover, dealing with a phenomenon that appears to be deeply ingrained into people from a young age.
So what options does all this leave for the West ? In short, violence. Retaliatory violence and pre-emptive violence. Coupled with a relentless long-term, youth-focused propaganda war against the evils and futility of suicide-bombing. Such violence, of course, runs entirely counter to the precepts of modern liberal democracy, and is furthermore internally contradictory - doing violence while preaching non-violence. But what alternatives are there ? Do nothing or negotiate fruitlessly ? That is why America is right
That's why Israel is right
But the West should do much more to counter the cult of suicidism that pervades much of the Arab world, because the ultimate solution is surely to foster a mind set where reason determines people's actions, not blindness. But it'll be a long haul, until those youngsters currently being brainwashed have either managed to break free intellectually, or have killed themselves or have grown past the age of suicide. By the way, where do you think the children of those suicide-advocating mullahs, sheikhs and senior leaders are ? Not anywhere near the cauldron of the Middle East. All are abroad, permanently on business or studying.
Well, it seems UN diplomacy is not dead after all. The organization has managed to pull off a remarkable coup. It's persuaded itself - well, its 15-member Security Council - to unanimously back a pragmatic resolution, 1511, which has a reasonable likelihood of improving the lot of the Iraqis. It
The backing of old Europe, in the form of France, Germany and Russia, is to be thoroughly welcomed, despite their begrudging refusal to contribute money or soldiers and complaint that the resolution should have gone further. Once they get over this, I suspect they will thoroughly enjoy taking part in the reconstruction effort and will contribute positively. This is the first sign that a sense of reality and unity may be returning to Europe after all the posturing and Saddam-worship over the past year. It reminds me of the classic five stages involved with unwelcome news :
Old Europe, having gone noisily through the first three stages in respect of the Iraq war, are now into the fourth and will shortly arrive at number five. At the end of the day, what counts is the result. And this is an unequivocal 15-0 victory for Iraq, as well as for the UN, the US and Britain. And there are no losers other than those who wish ill on the Iraqi people.
For most of this year, a debate has been raging in Ireland about Environmental Tobacco Smoke, or ETS. A committee of respected scientists conducted a review of available research and concluded that ETS does indeed, on balance, increase the incidence of tobacco-related afflictions such as lung cancer and heart disease. Moreover ventilation is ineffective in removing all smoke and therefore the only way to avoid ETS and its associated diseases is to prevent smoking. As a result, the Irish Ministers of Health and of Labour announced In January 2003 that, in order to protect the workers, smoking would be banned from all workplaces as from 1st January 2004. “All” workplaces includes offices, but more controversially, hospitality enterprises such as hotels (every bedroom), B&Bs, restaurants, pubs, nightclubs, bookies, not to mention prisons and psychiatric hospitals. This provoked a predictable uproar.
The one quality the objectors seem to share, however, is the poor and incoherent quality of their objections. “Pretty weak and pretty pathetic” in the words of a senior trade union leader. By comparison, the proponents have set out their case very clearly and articulately. The aspect that strikes me most, however, is the absence of incontrovertible scientific evidence that it is ETS that is causing the damage. This is because you simply cannot conduct an epidemiological test where all other extraneous factors are excluded from two large control groups, one subjected to ETS over a long period time, the other not. Therefore you are limited to working with percentages, probabilities and inferences using whatever data you can lay your hands on. But last week Rosemary Ellis of Prevention magazine published a very convincing piece of hard evidence. She relates that in June 2002, a smoking ban in restaurants, bars and casinos was introduced in Helena, Montana. This is a city of 66,000 with only one cardiac-care hospital within a 60-mile radius, which therefore receives all the heart-attack victims. This makes the city's heart attacks easy to count. ETS causes platelets in the bloodstream to become stickier, which can apparently lead to heart attacks. And in just six months, the attacks in Helena dropped by 58%, whereas there was no change amongst people living outside the city and thus beyond the reach of the ban. Then, remarkably, the ban was lifted, only to find the city's heart-attack rate bounced right back up as fast as it had dropped. It's hard to deny the damage of ETS against evidence like this added to the strong epidemiological case. Declaration of
Interest More on this subject in a later post
Perusing a December 1982 copy of the Scientific American, which (unlike the Lancet) has unfortunately not yet put all its archives on line, I came across these statistics in an article by Arthur Upton. The following activities increase the risk of death by one-in-a-million chance. In other words, if a million people do one of them, one person will die early as a result.
I'm not sure what to make of all this; perhaps it's all rubbish as well as being 20 years out of date. But the smoking figure means that if I smoke 20 cigarettes a day for 100 years my chance of dying goes up from one-in-a-million to a million-in-a-million. In other words, by the time I'm a hundred, I am, to my surprise, dead. On the other hand, if you merely breathe my smoke, you will live to be 90,000 years old (unless you're in Helena, Montana) ! Doesn't that sound a lot safer than spending 20 minutes aged 60, though it isn't really. The main point is, of course, that nothing is “safe”. Everything carries its own risk , and preventive measures should be taken based on
A smoking ban in workplaces, for example, is beneficial, easy and cheap, so why not do it. Late Note (21 Oct)
I can hardly think of a more secure, less likely-to-lose method of carrying such data with you on trips. On the aircraft, having a swim, in a restaurant, on the tennis court, taking a shower, fast asleep, the data is always on your person. Magic ! Click here.
In 1997 in Hong Kong, on the eve of the colony's so-called “Chinese Takeaway”, I had the good fortune to watch Fiji carry off the Rugby Sevens World Cup trophy. They were big, strong, fast and rugged as rocks, black as night with great white teeth and eyes that glistened as they thundered down the pitch ball in hand at their terrified opposition. They came as close as it was possible to come to eating their opponents, including the mighty New Zealand All Blacks, without actually eating them. Because they were already going soft, you see, and have since gone softer; witness their 61-18 defeat by France in the current (15s) World Cup. It gets worse. Fijians were were tougher back in July 1867 when the Reverend Thomas Baker, a Methodist of the London Missionary Society, visited the remote mountain village of Navatusila on the Fiji island of Suva. While there, he committed the capital crime of touching the head of the village chief, in an attempt to reclaim a comb he had lent him. So the locals rightly cooked him in a pot and gobbled him up until only his boots remained. At another dinner a couple of weeks later, a Fijian turned to his buddy and said, “You know, I really hate my mother-in-law.” His friend replied, “Hey, no big deal, just eat the vegetables.” However bad luck has befallen the village ever since the missionary was devoured, and it still has no electricity or roads. The locals are convinced that this is due not to the incompetence of the government (perish the thought), but to the ghost of the disgruntled Rev Baker. They are therefore inviting the vicar's English descendents to Navatusila next month to receive a formal apology to add to several previous apologies they have made. They have already donated to the Methodist Church his overcooked and slightly chewed boots, which now sit in splendour in the Fijian Museum on Suva. Apologise ? Just for eating a clergyman ? I told you the Fijians are going soft.
Quote : “It is unfortunate that something happened in Palestine. It's not good for our reputation. This action doesn't push our interests ahead, its a backward step.” Walid, a
middle-aged shopkeeper in Jala'a Street in Gaza City,
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ISSUE #55 - 12th October 2003 [158]
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Now that Britain's three main parties have concluded their annual conferences in traditional seaside resorts, a curious thought struck me as I listened to and read the three party leaders' speeches. Though the ineffectual and perpetually sleepwalking Liberal Democrats seem happy enough to have Charles Kennedy lead them nowhere, Tony Blair and Ian Duncan Smith by contrast have considerable problems getting accepted as the leaders of their parties. Why is this ? Because they're all leading the wrong parties.
Meanwhile, the Tory party is desperate to find a more effective leader. Their choice is abysmal - old discredited warhorses like Michael Howard or Kenneth Clarke, petulant foot-stampers like Michael Portillo, other sleep-walkers like Theresa May. Oliver Letwin appears to be the only credible contender but many view him as not yet ready to take the reins. While, over at Labour, Gordon Brown can hardly disguise his eagerness to depose Tony and drag New Labour back to Old Labour. He is cheered on by the bulk of the party and the Trade Union masses that he has already pumped up with massive infusions of no-strings-attached largesse towards the public services. He'll be a dangerously loose cannon should he ever get hold of the reins. And the Liberal Democrats continue to muddle on without a hope of ever coming to power under the UK's first-past-the-post voting system because their voters are spread so evenly across the UK with no centres of strength. Doomed to perennial moaning on the sidelines, they provide no home for a successful politician with ambition such as Mr Kennedy. So, here's my three-point proposal.
Charles Kennedy takes over Labour (shoving Gordon Brown aside) and makes sure the Tories don't have an easy ride, as they did when they were last in power.
Ian Duncan Smith takes over the Liberal Democrats and he and they just meander around in circles forever, like they always have. Isn't this more fun than the Rugby World Cup ?
Afri, Another Left-Wing Political “Charity” The latest charity to incur my wrath is Afri, which stands for “Aid from Ireland”. Its patrons are Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his wife. Joe Murray, it's “Co-ordinator”, recently wrote to the (subscription-only) Irish Times decrying the US, the invasion of Iraq, the current occupation. In response to American attempts to get more countries (than the current 30) to participate in the occupation, he trots out this laughable line.
A couple of days later the paper kindly printed my response ... “So, Mr Murray, please tell us what would help the Iraqi people.
A week has passed and I am still waiting for his reply. I find extraordinary the amount of newspaper column-inches devoted to moans and hand-wringing about Iraq, such as Afri's, which make not a single realistic alternative proposal intended to help the unfortunate Iraqis rebuild their country and not make their current difficulties worse. The motivation is clearly hatred of America/Bush, not concern for Iraq. A successful, peaceful, democratic Iraq is many people's idea of a nightmare, for it would make Bush look good. As for the fact that the Iraq war delivered the “serious consequences” that the UN Security Council, to universal rejoicing, promised unanimously in Resolution 1441, there is never a word. In fairness to Afri, however, it says it changed its focus to the “issue of the arms trade as a major cause of famine, food insecurity and human rights violations throughout the world”. So it's not quite as hypocritical as Ireland's largest two charities, Trócaire and Concern, who purport to be do-good charities while peddling left-wing pro-tyrant twaddle and vitriolic anti-Americanism in exchange for taxpayer handouts. They all share some of the ethos of the Muslim madrassa schools, many of which also
The Crime of Protected Pharmacists in Ireland Pharmaceutical retail in Ireland is one of many areas where domestic protectionism supersedes the would-be openness of the EU's common market, to the benefit of pharmacists and the malefit of their customers. The difference in medical drug prices between continental European countries such as Spain, Italy and France on the one hand and Ireland on the other is scandalous. It is the direct result of a legislative regime that shields Irish pharmacies from competition, and saves them the bother of either shopping around for the cheapest supplier or worrying what other pharmacies may be up to. This is in contravention to the EU's founding principle of free trade and open borders, the principle that has brought undreamt-of prosperity throughout the EU. The Irish protectionism manifests itself in two other ways.
My wife and I recently returned from Spain, where we have learned the wisdom of stocking up on medical drugs.
Prices in Italy are very similar to Spain's; France's are about 20% more. All of
the above list happen to be preventive drugs. For example Xalacom eye drops
delay or prevent glaucoma. Moreover, all but the multivite
require a prescription in Ireland which means a €40 trip to the doctor,
where none is needed in Spain. It makes me wonder how many people don't take preventive drugs because they can't afford the exorbitant prices, and as a result unnecessarily suffer blindness or other afflictions in later life. Trade protectionism is by no means a victimless crime.
You see, Madam, the pharmaceutical sector in this country is a protected market. We depend on the industry as it contributes significantly to our export figures. (It matters not that much of the profit is returned to the US.) What I am surprised at is that Minister for Health Mary Harney professes ignorance of this protectionism and she herself thinks that the local pharmacy is “ripping off the public”. I wrote a letter to the Irish Times on the subject in May 2007, but it went unpublished.
Princess Diana Airbrushed out of St Pauls On a recent trip to London, I had the pleasure of visiting the magnificent St Paul's Cathedral, built by Sir Christopher Wren in 1710 after 35 years of construction, the fourth Church to be erected on that site since 604 AD. I wheezed up the 530 steps to the Golden Gallery 100 metres high, just beneath the cross atop the Dome, and drank in the breathtaking 360º views of the city. It is a most majestic building and it is humbling to think that it was constructed by human hands without machinery or computers, every brick hauled into place by manpower alone. It also made me wonder how many people fell to their deaths in the process. Ask most people over about 25 what event they most associate with St Paul's, and you're likely to hear the Royal Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana in 1981, in a spectacular televised ceremony watched by 750 million people around the world. Then ask who stood out, and it will always be Diana. As she continued to stand out amongst the royals for the next sixteen years until she was killed in Paris in 1997. Strange, then, that as you wander around the memorials to the great people and great events of the last three centuries, which are peppered throughout both the 160 metre long Cathedral Floor and the vast crypt below, you can scarcely find any reference to Diana at all. I eventually located
a small corner of the crypt devoted to royal jubilees, birthdays and
weddings, with lots of stuff about kings and queens through the ages, as
well as Charles, his sons and siblings. For Diana is a constant embarrassment to the British royal family and the Church of England clergy. She committed the cardinal sin of being liked - adored, even - by the people of Britain, the Commonwealth, the world. Being adored, of course, has always been the preserve, the prerogative, the God-given right of the royals and clergy, and the current mediocre incumbents simply cannot understand why this commodity is utterly lacking today. No wonder they seethe with envy and resentment at Diana's enduring popularity, and wish her memory would just disappear as her life did. Air-brushing out from St Paul's Cathedral its most eminent contemporary star is but a step in that direction.
The first amendment to the US Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech.” This site gives some thirty interesting examples of how the First Amendment has been interpreted by the courts, which I must say usually fall more in the category of simple common sense than literal interpretation. To summarise some examples ...
Don't Underestimate Your Goldfish Goldfish, which originally hail from China, seem to have been in the news recently. First there was a story that their memory is much longer than the three minutes commonly believed. Research has shown
Other research indicates that if you feed them alcohol, they become, well, drunk. Meanwhile, according to the UK's Environment Agency, goldfish if given half the chance are rampaging devils. When pet goldfish escape from ornamental ponds or are released from people's aquaria, they race around harassing the crucian carp, which is Britain's only indigenous goldfish. The pets
In other words, they behave pretty much like the early white men did when they discovered the Americas and Australia, though with less homicide. For the crucian carp the result is much the same as it was for the aboriginals. It is being wiped out, and for this reason it is illegal to release pet goldfish into the wild without permission. Perhaps someone should have made it illegal to release whiteys into the wild.
Quote : “It's the most difficult [decision] I've made in my entire life, except the one I made in 1978 when I decided to get a bikini wax.” California
Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger Quote : “I came here with absolutely nothing and California has given me absolutely everything. And today California has given me the greatest gift of all. You've given me your trust by voting for me.” Mr Schwarzenegger thanking voters after his election ___________________ Quote : “I wouldn't describe the IRA as terrorists ... The IRA would argue [that its] killing of civilians [was] by accident.” Gerry
Adams, President of Sinn Fein,
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his two upper front teeth.
I
stumbled across this great device a short while ago. Costing just
$89, it's a waterproof watch with a built-in, password-protected data-memory of 128 Mb (a hundred floppies), together with a USB connection to plug into any computer. It
can be used to store data, documents, spreadsheets, graphics etc for that
all important overseas meeting. 
And
there in the corner was this one photograph of the 1981 wedding, with the
delectable Diana shown only from the back and as a mere white blob in the
distance. She is nowhere else to be found in the
cathedral.
Now, for a little [Light Relief]
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Gift Idea |
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Good to report that as at
FREED AT LAST, |
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BLOGROLL
Atlantic Blog (defunct) Blog-Irish (defunct)
Jihad
Religion
Iona Institute
Leisure
Blog Directory
My Columns in the
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What I've recently
But it's not
entirely honest in its subtle pro-Palestinian bias, and therefore needs
to be read in conjunction with an antidote, such as See detailed review +++++
BP's ambitious CEO John Browne expanded it through adventurous acquisitions, aggressive offshore exploration, and relentless cost-reduction that trumped everything else, even safety and long-term technical sustainability. Thus mistakes accumulated, leading to terrifying and deadly accidents in refineries, pipelines and offshore operations, and business disaster in Russia. The Macondo blowout was but an inevitable outcome of a BP culture that had become poisonous and incompetent. However the book is gravely compromised by a litany of over 40 technical and stupid errors that display the author's ignorance and carelessness. It would be better to wait for the second (properly edited) edition before buying. As for BP, only a wholesale rebuilding of a new, professional, ethical culture will prevent further such tragedies and the eventual destruction of a once mighty corporation with a long and generally honourable history. Note: I wrote
my own reports on Macondo +++++
A horrific account of:
More details on my blog here. +++++
After recounting a childhood of convention and simple pleasures in working-class Aberdeen, Mr Urquhart is conscripted within days of Chamberlain declaring war on Germany in 1939. From then until the Japanese are deservedly nuked into surrendering six years later, Mr Urquhart’s tale is one of first discomfort but then following the fall of Singapore of ever-increasing, unmitigated horror. After a wretched journey Eastward, he finds himself part of Singapore’s big but useless garrison. Taken prisoner when Singapore falls in 1941, he is, successively,
Chronically ill, distraught and traumatised on return to Aberdeen yet disdained by the British Army, he slowly reconstructs a life. Only in his late 80s is he able finally to recount his dreadful experiences in this unputdownable book. There are very few first-person eye-witness accounts of the the horrors of Japanese brutality during WW2. As such this book is an invaluable historical document. +++++
This is a rattling good tale of the web of corruption within which the American president and his cronies operate. It's written by blogger Michele Malkin who, because she's both a woman and half-Asian, is curiously immune to the charges of racism and sexism this book would provoke if written by a typical Republican WASP. With 75 page of notes to back up - in best blogger tradition - every shocking and in most cases money-grubbing allegation, she excoriates one Obama crony after another, starting with the incumbent himself and his equally tricky wife. Joe Biden, Rahm Emmanuel, Valerie Jarett, Tim Geithner, Lawrence Summers, Steven Rattner, both Clintons, Chris Dodd: they all star as crooks in this venomous but credible book. ACORN, Mr Obama's favourite community organising outfit, is also exposed for the crooked vote-rigging machine it is. +++++
It is really just a collation of amusing little tales about surprising human (and occasionally animal) behaviour and situations. For example:
The book has no real message other than don't be surprised how humans sometimes behave and try to look for simple rather than complex solutions. And with a final anecdote (monkeys, cash and sex), the book suddenly just stops dead in its tracks. Weird. ++++++
It's chapters are organised around provocative questions such as
It's central thesis is that economic development continues to be impeded in different countries for different historical reasons, even when the original rationale for those impediments no longer obtains. For instance:
The author writes in a very chatty, light-hearted matter which makes the book easy to digest. However it would benefit from a few charts to illustrate some of the many quantitative points put forward, as well as sub-chaptering every few pages to provide natural break-points for the reader. +++++
The author was a member of Britain's V Force, a forerunner of the SAS. Its remit was to harass Japanese lines of command, patrol their occupied territory, carryout sabotage and provide intelligence, with the overall objective of keeping the enemy out of India. Irwin is admirably yet brutally frank, in his descriptions of deathly battles with the Japs, his execution of a prisoner, dodging falling bags of rice dropped by the RAF, or collapsing in floods of tears through accumulated stress, fear and loneliness. He also provides some fascinating insights into the mentality of Japanese soldiery and why it failed against the flexibility and devolved authority of the British. The book amounts to a very human and exhilarating tale. Oh, and Irwin describes the death in 1943 of his colleague my uncle, Major PF Brennan. +++++ Other books here |
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After
48
crackling, compelling, captivating games, the new World Champions are,
deservedly,
England get the Silver,
No-one can argue with
Over the competition, |
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